She Laughs...

 ... without fear of the future. Prov. 31:25b NLT

I know we are well into the new year, but there are some profound things God showed me at the beginning of this year that I want to share. Hopefully, it will encourage you as much as it did me. 

There were two verses that were highlighted to me: 

    "She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future." Prov. 31:25

    "And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." Luke 1:45

There are several things that stood out to me. 

1. It is important to hear from the Lord (know what He is saying)

2. It is important to believe what He tells me.

3. The way to be free of fear of the future is by believing what He said.

The next morning I felt the Lord saying, "Be still and know that I am God." I looked up that verse and then got to reading the whole chapter of Psalms 46. It says that God is our refuge and strength, therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way...the Lord of hosts is with us... he makes wars cease to the end of the earth... 

Will I believe what He says?? Not what everyone else says about the terrible world situation, but what He says??

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And now, to bring it down to a more practical, everyday level...

Provision has felt really big to me recently. The fear of not being provided for, whether it is finances, food, friends, emotional needs, etc. 

I get milk from a local dairy and it has been hard to communicate because they don't have a cell phone. I have tried my best to let them know when I am coming so they can have my gallon of milk in the fridge, but in spite of my best efforts there were several times when it got missed. So the last time when I drove up the guy was waiting for me by the milk house door. (Often no one is around when I come, so I thought, this doesn't look good.) And then he said the dreaded words, "I don't have any milk for you today." Apparently, the milk truck had shown up on an "off" day and taken all the milk. He said he would try and have it for me the next day. I can't say I wasn't disappointed and even cried a few tears. The next day I couldn't help feeling anxious still - would there actually be milk for me today?? As I drove towards the farm I thanked God for his provision. When I walked in the milk house and opened the fridge door, this is what I saw:

I cried...again. This time they were tears of joy. I felt seen and cared for. God saw my little gallon of milk. He made sure that it was there for me, and, more than that, he gave it to me free.

She laughs... with the carefree abandon of a child who knows she is deeply loved and will ALWAYS be taken care of!